41st Academy Awards (1969)
Nominations: 8
Wins: 1

Well, we’ve got another William Wyler movie to be reviewed today, which puts him pretty far ahead as the most discussed director in Oscars Fortnight history (we also previously reviewed Wuthering Heights and Ben-Hur). I think what made Wyler such a prolific Oscar-friendly director is that he was able to adapt his style of prestige-laden elegance to other styles of crowd-pleasing entertainment as the decades went on, like the ancient epics of the ’50s or in this case, the excessive pre-New Hollywood musicals of the ’60s. Wyler’s movies have never been cool, which is perhaps why he’s never talked about anymore as one of the greats, but honestly, I think I’ve still yet to see a movie of his I didn’t like, so it’s hard to say his Oscar glory was unearned. Continue reading →

The 53rd Academy Awards (1981)
Nominations: 6
Wins: 4

Every year when we do our “Oscar’s Fortnight” or “March to Ten Wins,” or whatever we call it now, I find myself tiptoeing around the 1980s. In the five years we’ve done this segment, I’ve only reviewed one 1980s film: Dangerous Liaisons (still can’t spell that word). This isn’t an accident.

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15th Academy Awards (1943)
Nominations: 12
Wins: 6

I’m writing about Mrs. Miniver today because this Sunday Adrien Brody broke Greer Garson’s Guinness World Record for longest Oscars acceptance speech, which had stood for more than 80 years. How’s that for a state of affairs for the Academy Awards? Here’s the thing… as much shit as Hollywood gets, I’m rooting for it. I think that, more than most of the world, Hollywood has genuinely tried to be a better, more inclusive place year over year, even if that effort is most often merely superficial. Hey, you know, with so many people decrying the increasingly vague term “woke,” I’m inclined at this point to give props for anyone seeming to sincerely try to be better. More than that, I know that the real people who make movies, the vast majority of these people, are hardworking, passionate dreamers and that’s cool as hell. And yet, every year more and more people seem to care less and less about cinema in general and this ceremony in particular.

As the veil gets pulled back further and also farther, it’s become impossible to deny that the Academy Awards (and all of awards season) is a sport. A game played by some of the worst people in the world who spend ungodly amounts of money in the hopes of earning… clout, I guess? These days, the movies that get Oscars are the movies that are made by studios who hired awards consultant firms when they greenlit the picture. These awards, like so much of our reality now, are defined by billionaires trying to fill holes in their hearts. Oscar prestige, if there ever really was such a thing, is almost totally meaningless in 2025. It’s not really the case anymore that an Oscar will change career trajectories or shine a light on a diamond in the rough. Best case scenario, an Oscar is a trophy that says you played the game best. More often than not, it’s just a piece of bar trivia.

Does it have to be this way? Was it always this way? And what the hell does this have to do with Mrs. Miniver?

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The 33rd Academy Awards (1961)
Nominations: 5
Wins: 3

Three years ago, I watched Burt Lancaster in the 1968 film The Swimmer and was blown away. There’s something about Burt’s raw physicality and charisma, but also his vulnerability, that captivated me in that performance. His character, Ned Merrill, is this charming, handsome, confident guy, but as we delve deeper, we discover he’s actually a scared, depressed, and much darker figure than we were led to believe.

The character of Elmer Gantry is similar in that he projects confidence and thoughtfulness, but the real Elmer is conniving and self-centered. It’s a façade that we see through right from the beginning, as do many of the characters in the film, yet people can’t seem to look away. He creates a “cult of personality,” which makes watching this film in 2025 eerily relatable.

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The 31st Academy Awards (1959)
Nominations: 6
Wins: 0

Welcome once again to Oscar Fortnight, the time each year where we take two weeks to look back on past films that have achieved Oscar glory, or in the case of my first film, was happy just to be nominated. This year, we’re doing things a bit differently, since a certain recent bachelor party derailed our plans of posting a review each day leading up to Hollywood’s Biggest Night. So instead we’re doing these reviews preceding the Oscars ceremony last night in what we’ve referred to as our March of The Ten Wins (Sean’s idea, not mine). Considering Anora‘s big wins last night, it feels appropriate to start things off with another film showing that every once in a while the Academy will give a little love to a kooky comedy. Continue reading →